The next piece begins! Kumiko is now in her second year at Kitauji High School, and with a new year
comes new problems. As if making it to Nationals wasn't hard enough, Kumiko is tasked with mentoring
the concert band's troublesome first years – each with their own distinct personality and problems to
solve. With Kumiko busy juggling both the concert band and her new role as senpai, how does her
relationship with Shuuichi fit into the picture?
(Source: Shout! Factory)
Before we begin, here are four important FAQs: _Q: Can I watch this without watching the [TV series](https://anilist.co/anime/20912/Hibike-Euphonium/)?_ A: No, watch the two seasons of TV series first. They’re all very closely related. _Q: Apparently there is this Side Story called [Liz to Aoi Tori](https://anilist.co/anime/100178/Liz-to-Aoi-Tori/), should I watch it first?_ A: It’s not mandatory, but I hugely suggest you to watch it first. It actually enhances some parts of this movie. _Q: Is it worth it to watch the TV series and Liz movie just to watch this one?_ A: In short, the TV series and Liz movie are actually better than this movie. _Q: Does this review contain spoiler?_ A: No. And so, here we begin with the review. ~~~...~~~ img1080(https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/the-6th-roll.appspot.com/o/ReviewImage%2Fsacchan.jpg?alt=media) Taking place after the end of Hibike! Euphonium 2, our familiar characters have now gone up a grade. Characters with blue ribbons are now third year students, characters with red ribbons are now second year students, and characters with green ribbons have now been replaced with fresh new faces of new first year students. Replacing old characters that the viewers might have already attached to is without doubt a bold move. After all the time spent to develop the characters, then outright replacing them with new characters and having to convince the viewers to like the new characters, it can be very hard to pull off and might be one of the reasons why series with school setting rarely cover more than one year. However, when you noticed that the studio that helm the production of this movie is Kyoto Animation, the studio that have produced massive hits over massive hits like Clannad, Haruhi, K-On!, Free!, Violet Evergarden, and many more, you just can’t help but feel confident they might be able to pull it off. img1080(https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/the-6th-roll.appspot.com/o/ReviewImage%2Fririka.jpg?alt=media) Unfortunately though, if I have to describe it with one word, Hibike! Euphonium Movie: Chikai no Finale is _frustrating_. If you’ve already watched the TV series and Liz movie as I suggested at the beginning, by now you should’ve have familiarised yourself with Kyoto Animation’s direction and production quality. There’s just no complain regarding them. The direction, animation, character movement, soundtrack, voice acting, background art, camera movement, every little detail, there’s just no compain about them. They are all produced in high quality. However, doesn’t matter how much you polish it, when the plot is weak, it’s bound to be a weak movie. Chikai no Finale has a weak storyline and being a movie instead of TV series really doesn’t help at all. The main idea about Chikai no Finale is to showcase the development of the characters after the events in the previous TV series, mainly the development of the protagonist, Oumae Kumiko. The story focuses mostly on Kumiko and the new first year students with Kumiko helping them integrate with the club by helping them with their issues. While it sounds like typical Hibike! Euphonium plot (Kumiko sticks her nose into other people’s problem), unlike the previous drama, the problem with this new set of drama is how underdeveloped they are and as a result seem trivial, unnatural, and overdramatic. In the end, even Kyoto Animation can’t showcase the best of them through this movie. Having to introduce new characters, setup the drama, establish the plot, resolve the conflicts, all while also have to show the older characters’ development and the obligatory festival and competition in a very limited timeframe, proves to be a very tough hurdle. They have to condense this much content into a movie that doesn’t even last 2 hours. I have a feeling that if the plot is given more time to develop, it can actually be decent. With this limited time frame, it ends up being a pile of rush jobs instead, skipping from one thing to another very quickly, before the viewers can even develop a feeling towards the new characters and empathise with their issues. With that being said, this movie is not all bad. In fact, many of the points above are done very well. I find myself loving the new third years because of this movie, which I’ll end up be disappointed because they have to graduate, which means that I won’t see them again if there’s a sequel. The performance they do in this movie absorbs me deeply that I found myself nodding following the rhythm and who knows how many times I have listened to it again and again afterwards. Repeating myself once again, this movie is not bad at all, but can it be better? Absolutely. I can’t help but think there’s room for improvement, especially in the storyline, the buildup, and the pacing. This is why instead of bad, I describe this movie as _frustrating_. So, in conclusion, should you watch the movie? Depends. Do you like Hibike! Euphonium and want to see more of the characters? If no, feel free to skip this movie. You’re not going to love Hibike! Euphonium because of this movie. If the first 2 seasons of the TV series failed to attract you, nothing else would be able to. However, if yes, you should watch it. Not to mention there will be a sequel that covers about Kumiko in her third year and before you watch that, this movie is definitely a mandatory. So, enjoy the movie and wait for the next piece that will begin shortly. img1080(https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/the-6th-roll.appspot.com/o/ReviewImage%2Fyuuko.jpg?alt=media)
# ~~~ __NOTE__ :~~~ ~~~This is not going to follow my usual style of reviewing a show because I just want to get some major things out of my head with this show. Also note that this will be spoiler-free.~~~ ----------- # __~~~My history with Hibike. ~~~__ - Keeping it short and sweet here. Discovered this absolute gem back in August and it instantly shot up to my 2nd (potentially 1st) favorite show of all time. - I procrastinated a whole lot (re-watched s1,s2 and Liz once) before finally getting to the latest entry. - Part of the reason was because I'm usually just reluctant to finish my favorite shows because the idea of "All good things must come to an end" fucking sucks.The other more important reason was that I heard that this movie did not live up to its predecessors. __Unfortunately, the rumors were true.__ --------- # __~~~Review~~~__ ----------- # __~~~Problems~~~__ ___Pacing and Content___ - I'm going to address the elephant in the room right from the get-go as it is the most glaring problem. I don't know how or where to begin but the movie is a cramped mess. I don't want to get into the tiniest of details so I'll give you a general idea of why this was the case. - In case y'all didn't know, the original Hibike! Euphonium Novel is split into 3 years, spanning over the course of MC Kumiko's high school years. The first 2 seasons of the anime adapted Kumiko's 1st year of high school. This movie adapts the 2nd year. - IF it's still unclear, Year 1 had an 8hr runtime while Year 2 was hastily packed into a 1hr40m movie. Naturally this would lead to TONS of content being skipped/skimmed over. I don't want to get to into spoiler territory so just know that the pacing and content of the movie sucks, from start to around 3/4 of its runtime. This is my biggest gripe with the movie. ___Budget___ - I have one more issue with it, that being the budget and how it was spent. I love the performance, but there were a few things that made it miss the mark for me. - I've never cried at any music performance in my life, until I listened to the third movement of __ Liz and the Blue Bird's__ titular piece. I mention this because its plain as day to see that this is where most of the budget went. It's not a bad thing, but... - the performance is merely a backseat. I shit you not, we can have a 360p crappily animated performance, slap it on s1, 2 or Liz's climax performances and they would still be good. It's because... - Hibike! Euphonium is about the journey, not the end. So blowing all their budget to do such a grand performance didn't sit well with me because I'd much rather trade the entire performance for a good middle section. # __~~~Positives ~~~__ ___Potential___ - Even with the scuffed pacing, it's clear as day that Hibike! will always have some of the best characters this medium has to offer. Though most of the drama that would otherwise be emphasized on if this movie was instead turned into a series were short, they were super interesting. Perhaps it's due to them being rushed that piqued my interest, but I could actually see it de-throning S2's drama if stretched out. ___Authenticity___ - This is one of the rarest things in Anime nowadays. Hibike! is one of the few possessors of said Authenticity. I will probably never have the right words to describe what I mean by this. ___Characters___ - Another Hibike special. Every single key Y1 student brings so much new conflicts to the table, while our Main Y2 cast continues to discover about themselves and their futures. Lastly, the remaining Y3s try their hardest to make their final year a memorable one. -------------------------------- # __~~~Conclusion~~~__ - All in all, this movie is but an installation in one of the best Animes of all time, and if you liked it previous seasons, this one will be no different. - Finally, for all those who just scroll down to look at the score, note that my scoring for movies (except Liz) don't matter for shit because I haven't seen enough of them. Read the actual content to get a better understanding of how I truly feel. ~~~Thanks for reading!~~~
This movie makes me so mad, and I kept putting off watching it for months because I knew this was
going to happen. It's just so annoying to see the ideas of something great, but all of it be for
nothing as they speedrun this whole section of the story. Overall I think Kumiko is still great here,
and her dynamic with Kanade is perfect with where she is as a character and Kanade being a parallel to
a season one Kumiko. Though besides Kumiko, pretty much every other character is sidelined. Even
though Kanade is good for Kumiko, Kanade's arc is still so dumb. She is told many times that seniority
doesn't matter at Kitauji, but she doesn't believe it because of her middle school experience. Kanade
is scared that everyone will hate her if she takes a senior's role. As that's what happened in middle
school and everyone hated her after they lost the competition. She uses what happened last year with
Reina as an example of Kitauji being just like anywhere else and other what-if scenarios. But this
point makes no sense because even when Reina played, THEY LOST THE COMPETITION, AND NO ONE BLAMED HER.
So I guess no one told her about that part or something?
The next new character Mirei wants to do her best and hates that Hazuki doesn't take this as seriously
and prioritizes fun. Again she works well for Kumiko as doing your best vs. enjoyment is something
that Kumiko struggles with within the first two seasons; it truly shows how far she has come. But we
never see Mirei having a negative experience with Hazuki, so it gives me no reason to empathize with
her and just makes her out as more of a bitch. Then there's Motomu, whos just a dick and does nothing
in this movie, and Satsuki, who literally does nothing. If she had no dialogue, nothing would change.
Natsuki was also good, as she and Kumiko seemed to be the only people with common sense. Reina doesn't
do much either but starts to worry that her goals could get in the way of her and Kumiko's friendship
but that never gets explored. The most insane part of this movie is Kumiko and Shuuchi's relationship.
The idea of something between them was definitely hinted at in the previous two seasons, but Kumiko
never showed any real interest. Now, this starts with Shuuichi confessing and the fastest relationship
ever. They have maybe five scenes together, with the longest one being a date to the festival (which
is sped through). We never get to see their feelings grow for each other or anything that would make
their relationship believable. Then about thirty minutes later, they decide to maybe date after band
is done. This should have either been cut or had a larger focus; it just ruins any potential they had
by doing it in a way where we never see anything besides the confession and the semi-breakup.
Because of all these different plot lines, they try to shove in; the pacing is EXTREMELY FAST, with
many cuts not flowing together and scenes feeling like they just started before it jumps to something
completely unrelated. The final performance, though great to look at, held no weight since I don't
know anything about most of the characters and didn't get to see their journey to get to this point.
Since the performance was 10 minutes, it took up way too much run time, which left about 4 minutes
before the credits. With season three looking like it will go straight to the 3rd year, we don't get
to see any of the current 3rd years like Yuuko, Nozomi, Mizore, or Natsuki off. If this is the end of
those characters, that's just depressing. The problems here are even more apparent when before this,
there is Liz and the Blue Bird, which is the complete opposite of this mess. Liz is focused on two
characters, slow-paced, and never leaves the school; it knows exactly what it's trying to do and is
confident in its presentation.
Though I have mostly complained, the core themes and message of the story are still continued
perfectly, as I mentioned earlier with Kumiko and Kanade. "It gets in the way of getting better…
That's life. You try your best and practice and practice, but you could still fail. Life is full of
failure (Kumiko)." But it's still important to always try your best, no matter the outcome, to not
have any regrets. Doing your best could lead you anywhere. Bonds are formed from being honest and
being the best person you can be. Hibike Euphonium has always shown the importance of putting
everything you have into something you love. Kumiko and Kanade showcase all of this amazingly in the
rain and bus scenes, which are the absolute highlights of the movie. I will never understand why
Kyoani chose to do a movie. They obviously care for this series a lot when looking at the previous
entries. Hopefully, season three can flesh out all the new characters, and plot lines since much of it
felt like setup. I still give this a seven because, well, honestly, I'm not sure it still had the
heart it's always had, and that's enough for me. Actually, Asuka was in it, so it's a ten. I love this
movie!
Es tut mir sehr weh hier nur 60 Punkte geben zu können und eigentlich wären es sogar etwas weniger, wenn ich den Anime nicht so sehr mögen würde. Direkt zu Anfang __FETTE SPOILERWARNUNG__ Innerhalb des Filmes wird einem das komplette zweite Schuljahr von Komiko gezeigt und ist somit der direkte Nachfolger zu den ersten beiden Staffeln. Falls man die dritte Staffel gucken will, muss man diesen Film geguckt haben. __Ganz direkt gesagt: der Film war nicht gut. Dafür gibt es mehrere Gründe:__ - Es wurde super viel geskipped und wenn ich sage es wurde viel geskipped und gerushed, dann ist es eigentlich noch untertrieben. Zum Vergleich, der Anime mit bisher 2 Staffeln hat in circa 8h das erste Schuljahr von Kumiko gezeigt und konnte sich dabei vollkommen entfalten. Es fühlte sich gut an anzugucken und es wurde Hoffnung und Spannung aufgebaut. Man konnte sich gut mit den Charakteren auseinandersetzten, wodurch es am Ende umso mehr weh tat zb Asuka tschüss sagen zu müssen, aber dieser Film zeigt in 1:40h das komplette zweite Jahr. 8 Stunden im Vergleich zu 1:40 Stunden, wobei ganze 11 Minuten der Auftritt am Ende waren... Es wurde keine Spannung aufgebaut, es wurden keine Beziehungen zu den neuen Erstklässlern geschaffen und sie sind mir quasi bis zum Ende immer noch fremd. Noch schlimmer fand ich, dass die momentanen Drittklässler wie zb Mizore auch keinen richtigen abschied bekommen haben. Vorallem dadurch, dass Mizore und Nozomi so wichtige Charaktere geworden sind, durch den Film ,,Liz und der Blaue Vogel'', tat es mir weh, dass Mizore nichtmal einen einzigen Satz in diesen Film gesprochen hat. Man hat sie absolut nicht eingebunden. - Genauso wurde es kaum behandelt, dass Kumiko jetzt mit Shuuichi zusammen ist/war. Zwar wurde am Anfang das Geständnis gezeigt, jedoch wäre ich davon ausgegegangen, dass Kumiko dort weder ja noch Nein sagt. Das dachte ich bis zur Mitte des Filmes, bis sie dann händchenhaltend weg gelaufen sind und er versucht hat sie zu küssen. Bis dorthin dachte ich, dass sie nicht zusammen wären und naja circa 10 min Später macht sie dann ja auch schon schluss (zumindest bis nach dem 3. Schuljahr). Das hat mich umso mehr aufgeregt, weil einer meiner großen Kritikpunkte der ersten beiden Staffeln war, dass man Romance eingebaut hat, es jedoch nicht bearbeitet hat und jetzt hat man es mal endlich bearbeitet, das jedoch so gerushed und ohne jegliche Erklärung, dass es auch hier wieder nicht zufriedenstellend war. Ich würde zwar eigentlich liebend gerne das Originalwerk lesen, weil ich mir sicher bin, dass dieses ganze Problem lediglich im Anime der Fall ist, jedoch bin ich der Meinung, dass ein Musik Anime nur in animierter Form mit Ton Sinn macht und nicht als Light Novel oder Manga, weil ich schließlich die Musik hören möchte xD - Die Story fand ich auch nicht so schön. I mean es könnte dran liegen, dass alles so geskipped wurde, aber auch der Fakt, dass sie es nichtmal bis zur Landesmeisterschaft geschafft haben, finde ich echt blöd! Es fühlt sich einfach nur noch unverdienter für die bisher liebgewonnenen neuen Drittklässler an, die in ihrem letzten Jahr es nichtmal ansatzweise schaffen ihr Ziel zu erreichen. Ich habe eigentlich damit gerechnet, dass sie dieses Mal Silber holen und es dann in der Dritten Staffel zum Climax kommt und sie endlich Gold erreichen. Das wäre schön gewesen, aber jetzt nichtmal den Kansei Wettbewerb (der hieß doch so oder? xD) zu überstehen... nein, das ist einfach unverdient für die arme Mizore, Nozomi, Natsuki (die auch das erste Mal mit spielen durfte... alleine sie hätte etwas mehr verdient) und Yuuko. Die Story wird hier nicht anders als zum Originalwerk sein, deswegen ist das wohl so zu akzeptieren, dass sie es nicht so weit geschafft haben, aber ich bin mir zu 100% sicher, dass das Originalwerk es deutlich besser geschafft hat die alten Charaktere besser zu verabschieden und die neuen einzubinden. Das finde ich viel schlimmer, also die schlechte Umsetzung dieser Storyline. So muss ich jetzt schon wieder Abschied von Charakteren nehmen, die ich unglaublich liebgewonnen habe, wie vorallem Mizore und kriege dafür dann jetzt die Erstis oder wohl jetzt Zweitis, die ich nicht kenne, weil sie kaum thematisiert wurden und auch nicht unbedingt leiden kann, weil die beiden die wenigstens das minimalste Maß an Aufmerksamkeit bekommen haben nicht wirklich sympathisch wirkten. Die neue Eupho Spielerin scheint ziemlich manipulativ und/oder fies zu sein und die Tuba Spielerin ist einfach ein flach geschriebener Charakter, der ein unnötiges Drama hervorgerufen hat. - Auch schade fand ich, dass es dieses Mal kaum um die Freundschaft von Kumiko und Reina ging. Diese Freundschaft ist für mich mit einer der wichtigsten Sachen dieses ganzen Anime und ich finde einfach toll, dass die beiden solche Seelenverwandten sind. Leider war Reina aber so gut wie in keiner Szene wirklich mit dabei und wenn, dann nur kurz und nicht wirklich im Vordergrund (mit Ausnahme der Szene nach dem Sommerfest, die wahrscheinlich auch meine Lieblingsszene im Film war) Wahrscheinlich gibt es noch mehr Punkte, die mich aufregen, aber das sind so ziemlich die größten davon. __Abgesehen davon gibt es nur wenige Pro Argumente, aber auch die möchte ich jetzt einmal benennen, damit es nicht so einseitig ist.__ - Die Animationen sind nach wie vor einfach wunderschön und ein wahrer Augenschmaus - Die Musik hat Spaß gemacht zuzuhören, auch wenn dieses Mal kaum etwas davon zu hören war - Der Auftritt am Ende war 11 Minuten lang, was die Originallänge der erlaubten Spielzeit für das Orchester war. Mit anderen Worten: Der komplette Auftritt wurde gezeigt, was mir sehr gefallen hat. - Es gab gewisser Maßen Easter Eggs, die man versteht, sobald man den Film ,,Liz und der Blaue Vogel'' geguckt hat, was ich sowieso jedem empfehlen würde zutun, bevor er diesen Film guckt, weil man sonst noch weniger des Plots mitbekommt. - Reina und Kumiko hatten Partnerlook Bikinis an, das war verdammt cute xD süßes kleines Zeichen ihrer so engen und tollen Freundschaft img220(https://i.imgur.com/KhwVkpZ.png) Das wars dann schon an Pro Punkten leider.... __Als Fazit__: Ich finde es unglaublich schade, dass man diesen Film zwingend gucken MUSS, um dann Staffel 3 gucken zu können. Es hat mich während des Guckens eher an einen Film erinnert, der die Geschehnisse zusammenfassen soll, wie es zb beim Assassination Classroom Film der Fall ist oder generell oft bei Anime Filmen der Fall ist. Ich hätte eine dritte Staffel mit 12 Folgen alleine für das zweite Schuljahr von Kumiko besser gefunden und dann jetzt noch eine folgende 4. Staffel für das Dritte Jahr. Hätte man sich hier mehr Zeit gelassen, hätte die neuen Charaktere mehr eingebunden und die alten besser verabschiedet, dann wäre das hier ein deutlich positiveres Review. Leider wurde es dann wohl dieser Film, anstatt einer Staffel.__ Somit ist dieser Film leider ein Mustwatch für Fans der Serie, die auch die Dritte Staffel gucken wollen__. Damit man aber wenigstens noch ein kleines Bisschen mehr versteht, sollte jeder zuerst ,,Liz und der Blaue Vogel'' geguckt haben. Ich freue mich zwar schon auf Staffel 3, aber weil ich davon ausgehe, dass diese den Anime beendet und somit nur rund 4h für das dritte Jahr hat, habe ich ein wenig Angst, dass dort genauso viel geskipped und gerushed wird. Nunja 4h sind wenigstens mehr als doppelt so viel, als es dieser Film für Jahr 2 hatte xD Ich lasse mich überraschen und freue mich auf die Frühlings Season
Well, this is the first review I've written, so don't expect too much. __THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS__ I like HIbike! a lot, but I'm not a fan who knows everything about it. It took me a while to see the movie, since it's not officially available in my country. And I thought it was just a compilation of the previous episodes, but I watched it immediately when I realized I was wrong. - The first two seasons adapt Kumiko's 1st year at school, according to my calculations a total of 10 hours. The movie adapts the 2nd year in ONLY 1 hour, 40 minutes. Honestly, with that kind of time, I had nothing better to do. The movie is very confusing. - Kanade Hisaishi, at first, seems to be a lovable character. But as time goes by, we see that she's a manipulative character, and seems to be just out to confuse people. Her big drama is that she wants Natsuki to take part in the contest, even if it means that she herself won't take part, even though she hates Natsuki. This is explained, but at this point, I already hate this character. She's poorly developed, unlike Yuuko who I didn't like at first, but now I like her a lot. - We also have Satsuki and Mirei. They have a few scenes, but they're characters without any depth, especially Satsuki. Mirei is a little bit antisocial, and why is that? I don't know. - Motomu plays the bass. The most superficial character in the movie - Reina hardly appears in the film, which makes me sad, since she's my favorite character. #Suuichi and Kumiko The anime begins with a confession from Suuichi to Kumiko, but the scene is cut without any conclusion. Kanade teases Kumiko several times about how close Suuichi is to another character, and I personally didn't care much, since in both seasons, it's shown that Kumiko has no interest in Suuichi. Later in the movie, Suuichi tries to kiss Kumiko, but she doesn't want to. And about 3/4 of the way through the movie, Kumiko wants to take a break from dating Suuichi until next year. Here I asked myself, "What kind of relationship?" "Were they dating?" Their relationship isn't natural at all, no development is shown at all. It's sad to see how Natsuki and Yuuko don't get a decent ending, like Asuka for example. Natsuki is explored more than Yuuko in the movie. As for the final performance, I thought it was so dull, it didn't carry any weight. In the others, I was crying. In this one, I was begging for it to end soon. #CONCLUSION I feel that it would have been a good story if it had been done the conventional way. And that the 2nd year was COMPLETELY wasted with this movie. I could have had 1 or 2 more full seasons with my favorite characters. But unfortunately it's been summed up in 01h40m. Why they made that decision?. In the end, what remains is a feeling of sadness and emptiness. Maybe the only solution is a remake, who knows one day?